The present invention relates to motor vehicle body construction. More specifically, the illustrative embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for making body panels for motor vehicles.
Body side panels for motor vehicles have been formed by shaping a blank by stamping. The blanks have been made by welding four separate metal sheets together along their lines of attachment to form a single sheet having no openings extending therethrough. Interior portions of the blank are then cut out and removed to form spaced openings to provide, for example, door openings. The material removed from the blank to form the two openings can include areas where the sheets are welded together. The removed material is subsequently discarded as waste.
The present invention can be embodied in a method of forming a body side panel, including providing first and second opposing sheet members; providing first and second middle sheet members; connecting each of the middle sheet members to each of the first and second opposing sheet members to form a blank, such that the first and second opposing sheet members are spaced from each other and such that the first and second middle sheet members are spaced from each other, the blank having an original opening extending through the blank, the original opening having an original perimeter being formed by the first and second opposing sheet members and the first and second middle sheet members; and removing a portion of one of the first opposing sheet member, the second opposing sheet member, the first middle sheet member, and the second middle sheet member, the portion being removed being adjacent the original opening such that a section of the original perimeter of the original opening is removed to enlarge the original opening beyond its original perimeter and to form an enlarged opening.